RBI/2025-26/62
DoR.SOG (DEA Fund) No.37/30.01.002/2025-26

June 25, 2025

Madam / Dear Sir

The Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund Scheme, 2014 –
Revised Operational Guidelines

The Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund Scheme, 2014, prescribes the process to be followed by the banks for transfer to and claim of the amounts transferred to DEA Fund, including submission of various returns. 

2. Instructions have been issued to banks from time to time in the form of operational guidelines since 2014. A review has recently been carried out to consolidate and rationalise the extant instructions. The revised instructions are provided at Annex.

3. These instructions are issued in exercise of powers conferred under Sections 26A and 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and are applicable to all the banks covered under the DEA Fund Scheme, viz., Commercial Banks (including RRBs, LABs, SFBs and PBs) and all Co-operative Banks.

4. The instructions shall come into effect from October 01, 2025.

Yours faithfully

(Sunil T S Nair)
Chief General Manager

Encl: As above

Annex

The Depositor Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014 - Section 26A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 - Operational Guidelines

1. Process of registration in e-Kuber system

Firstly, a bank needs to register under the DEA Fund module on e-Kuber system. Secondly, a bank shall share two e-mail ids with dea.fund@rbi.org.in to complete the registration process. A bank (non-member bank), which does not have access to e-Kuber system is required to provide two e-mail ids to its sponsor bank to complete the registration process. On completion of registration process, further communication from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be sent only to the two e-mail ids registered in e-Kuber system. The aforesaid registration process is a pre-requisite for a bank to remit the unclaimed amounts due and submit refund claims, as defined in DEA Fund Scheme (the Scheme), in electronic form through e-Kuber system. A bank, which is yet to complete the registration process shall arrange to complete it expeditiously.

2. Authorised signatories of a bank

A bank shall identify officers (authorised signatories) to operate the bank’s DEA Fund account jointly, who shall be responsible for authorising the applicable returns (Form-I, Form-II and Rectification Forms as hereinafter detailed in the circular) under the DEA Fund Scheme. It shall submit to RBI, a certified true copy of the Resolution/Decision/Authorisation (in Hindi or English only) provided by the Board of Directors/MD&CEO/ED/Committee of Executives empowered for the purpose along with the list of authorised signatories i.e., officials designated as authorised signatories (with a maximum of ten signatories), for the above purpose. Any updates in the authorised officials shall be furnished in the prescribed revised format (Annex II), which would include details of both Resolution/ Decision/ Authorisation and specimen signatures of all the authorised signatories. A bank, while communicating the changes made, shall ensure to submit details of all such authorised signatories and their specimen signatures to RBI, instead of furnishing only the additions or deletions made.

3. Procedure for transferring the unclaimed amount to the Fund

3.1 A bank shall transfer to the DEA Fund (the Fund), the amounts becoming due in each calendar month (i.e., proceeds of the inoperative accounts and balances remaining unclaimed for 10 years or more) as specified in the Scheme, and the interest accrued on interest bearing accounts till the date of transfer, during the last five working days of the subsequent month. Before transferring the amount due to the Fund, the bank shall ensure that all legal obligations relating to the same, till that date, including those pertaining to taxes deductible and payable, are met or adequate arrangements are made therefor.

3.2 Own account - A member bank shall transfer to the Fund, the entire amount due through e-Kuber system under the module “DEA Fund Services”. When a member bank is crediting amount due to the Fund, it shall furnish its DEA Fund Code in the “Bank DEA Fund Code” field and the detailed breakup (number of accounts and amount) of the deposits, viz., interest bearing deposits, non-interest bearing deposits and other credits, which  also includes non-interest bearing amount (i.e., any amount other than deposits remaining unclaimed as defined in paragraph 3(iii) of the Scheme), in the fields provided for the same in the e-Kuber system.

3.3 Other bank’s (non-member) account - In case, a sponsor bank is remitting the amounts due of other non-member banks, it shall not consolidate but separately remit the amount bank-wise to the Fund, by indicating appropriate Bank DEA Fund Code of the other (non-member) bank in the field provided in the e-Kuber. They should also provide the detailed break-up (number of accounts and amount) of the deposits, viz., interest-bearing deposits, non-interest bearing deposits and other credits in the respective fields, i.e., the fields designated for the same, in the e-Kuber system.

4. Window for transferring unclaimed amount and submission of claim

4.1 Deposit Window for transferring unclaimed amount

The window for transferring unclaimed amounts/deposits to the Fund through e-Kuber shall be kept open only during the last five working days of every month, and a bank (including the non-member bank) is permitted to effect only one transfer of unclaimed amounts per month. A non-member bank is advised to transfer the unclaimed amounts/deposits to its sponsor bank (through normal banking channel), sufficiently in advance of the due date, to enable the sponsor bank to transfer the same to the Fund through e-Kuber system. On receipt of the amount transferred to the Fund, an auto generated acknowledgement receipt will be directly sent from e-Kuber system to the registered e-mail ids of the bank.

4.2 Claim Window for submission of claim

The window for submitting claim from the Fund shall be kept open in e-Kuber system during the first 10 working days of every month. A bank shall submit only one consolidated claim per month. A non-member bank is advised to submit the claim to its sponsor bank sufficiently in advance of the due date, to enable the sponsor bank to submit the same to RBI through e-Kuber system.

4.3 A bank is required to transfer the unclaimed amounts/deposits due to the Fund and submit the claims, within the stipulated timeframe. It should also ensure correctness of the amount transferred to/claimed from the Fund.

5. Procedure for submitting claim refund - Form II

5.1 In terms of paragraph 4 (i) of the Scheme, in case of demand from a customer/depositor, whose unclaimed amount/deposit had been transferred to Fund, a bank shall repay the customer/depositor, along with interest, if applicable, and thereafter, lodge a claim for refund from the Fund for an equivalent amount paid to the customer/depositor. In case of any claim made by the customer/depositor for refund of only part amount, the bank shall repay the customer accordingly by making the account operative and keep the remaining amount (including the interest, if any) in the account, and thereafter lodge a claim for the entire amount from the Fund. Banks may refer to RBI’s circular DOR.SOG (LEG).REC/64/ 09.08.024/ 2023-24 dated January 1, 2024 on Inoperative Accounts/Unclaimed Deposits in Banks - Revised Instructions, wherein operational guidelines on activation of inoperative accounts have been issued.

5.2 On submission of claim, an auto generated Form II (Annex IV) from the e-Kuber system will be sent to the registered e-mail ids of the banks/non-member banks. A bank/non-member bank shall submit a printout of the auto generated Form II signed by the authorised officials and certified by the bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent) to RBI, by e-mail and/or by post, within three working days of its submission on the e-Kuber system. The bank/non-member bank shall also submit a copy of the latest half-year Form III (Reconciliation Certificate- Annex V) and Annual Certificate (Annex VI), while submitting the first claim during the half-year / year, as the case may be, along with the claim form - Form II, else it will result in non-consideration of claim of the bank.

5.3 The claim will be examined by RBI. If the claim is in order, the claimed amount will be credited to the account of the member bank (with the sponsor bank in case of a non-member bank) maintained with RBI by the end of the same month. The claim settlement/rejection advice will be sent to the respective bank on their registered e-mail ids. While making payment towards claims from the Fund to a non-member bank, the RBI will credit the account of the sponsor bank. The sponsor bank is required to credit the same to the non-member bank.

5.4 The claims will be processed by the RBI based on the information provided by a bank in Form II. Therefore, the onus of making correct refund claims from the Fund will solely lie with the bank.

5.5 A bank is not required to provide the customer-wise details in case of refund claims in Form II. It should, however, maintain the customer-wise details of claims at its end, duly certified by its bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent), which RBI may seek at a later stage/during the supervisory review process.

5.6 Proper due diligence as required under RBI’s Master Direction - Know Your Customer (KYC) Direction, 2016 (as amended from time to time) should also be carried out before making payments to customers. A bank should verify the genuineness of the claims while making the process smoother and hassle free for the customers.

5.7 Interest payable on unclaimed interest bearing deposit - The rate of interest, if any, payable (by a bank to its depositors/claimants) on the principal amount of unclaimed interest-bearing deposit amount transferred to the Fund, shall be specified by the Reserve Bank of India from time to time, as envisaged in the paragraph 4 (iii) of the Scheme. The interest rates payable by RBI on unclaimed interest bearing deposits (as on date of issuance of this circular) are provided in Annex IX.

6. Submission of Returns

The following returns have been prescribed to the banks in terms of paragraph 5 of the Scheme.

6.1 Form I - Monthly Statement

6.1.1 At the end of every month, the e-Kuber system will auto generate a Form I (Annex III) for each bank (including non-member banks) and send it to their registered e-mail ids, including those banks which have not transferred any deposits. A bank (or sponsor bank on behalf of its non-member bank), after verifying the correctness of Form I, is required to submit the same online to RBI through e-Kuber system.

6.1.2 The auto generated Form I is confirmed only if the bank (sponsor bank in case of non-member bank) agrees with the balances shown in Form I by ticking the two check-boxes on the screen of e-Kuber system a) “I Agree” and b) “Form has been duly audited by bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent)”. If a bank (sponsor bank in case of non-member bank) does not agree with the balances given in the Form I, then it must submit the rectification form (Annex VII) duly filled and audited by the bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent) to RBI, by post and/or email.

6.2 Rectification Form

A bank shall immediately bring to the notice of the RBI any discrepancy observed by it in Form I with regard to the details of transfers made/claims received including non-receipt of confirmation messages. It may refer to instructions relating to rectification of errors in transfer of amounts/deposits and reimbursement of claims (Annex VII), and submit the applicable rectification form, duly signed by the two authorised officials and certified by the bank’s auditors (internal /concurrent), to RBI by post and/or e-mail, within a period of two weeks from the date of noticing such discrepancy.

6.3 Form III - Reconciliation Certificate

6.3.1 A bank shall, for independent and periodical verification of the balances, at the end of March and September every year, prepare and keep on record a Reconciliation Certificate (RC) - Form III (Annex V) signed by two senior officers, other than those involved in transfer and refund claims for unclaimed deposits, and countersigned by the bank’s auditors (internal /concurrent), certifying that  the balances of the bank as shown in its general ledger tally with the amount reflected in the DEA Fund account of RBI. This certificate shall be prepared and completed with auditor(s) certification within a period of one month from the end of every half-year, i.e., April 30 and October 31 respectively. The banks shall note that submission of a copy of the latest half-year RC (Form III) to RBI is required, only whenever a first claim of the half-year is made by the banks and shall be submitted in Form III, which shall contain Unique Document Identification Number (UDIN) or Internal Document Identification Number of the bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent).

6.3.2 To avoid any kind of avoidable discrepancies in reconciliation of the balances in DEA Fund, a bank shall take on record/account the transactions in its books on actual basis, i.e., only after settlement of claim/transfer of amount from/to the DEA Fund maintained by RBI.

6.4 Annual Certificate (AC) by Statutory Auditor

A yearly certificate indicating item-wise details of outstanding amount due at the year-end shall be obtained by a bank, from its Statutory Auditors in the prescribed format (Annex-VI). It shall be submitted to RBI within one month from the date of completion of bank’s Statutory Audit but not later than September 30 of the subsequent financial year for which the AC pertains to. A bank shall furnish the AC, even if it is a ‘NIL’ return, to the RBI within the above stipulated period. The format of AC has since been revised and requires mandatory inclusion of UDIN of the Statutory Auditor.

6.5 Mode of submission of returns

The returns specified in paragraph 5 and 6 of the circular duly certified by the specified auditors, shall be forwarded in original (unless specified otherwise), to Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund, Department of Regulation, Central Office, 12th Floor, Nariman Bhavan, Vinay K Shah Marg, Nariman Point, Mumbai - 400021, as also scanned copy in pdf form by email to dea.fund@rbi.org.in.

7. Audit

7.1 On the date of transferring the amount to the Fund, a bank should maintain customer-wise details verified by the banks’ auditors (internal/concurrent), including payment of up-to-date interest accrued in respect of interest bearing deposits, that has been credited to the deposit account till the date of transfer to the Fund. The bank shall maintain duly audited customer-wise details in respect of non-interest bearing deposits and other credits transferred to the Fund. The bank’s auditors (internal/concurrent) should also verify and certify that, as per the bank’s books, the returns have been correctly compiled by the bank in the monthly and half-yearly returns submitted to RBI.

7.2 The aforesaid returns shall also be verified by the statutory auditors at the time of annual audit.

8. Contact details

A bank shall duly furnish the updated contact details (in case of any change) by e-mail to dea.fund@rbi.org.in in the prescribed format (Annex VIII) for any correspondence with RBI relating to DEA Fund Scheme.

9. Disclosure in Notes to Accounts

All unclaimed liabilities (where amount due has been transferred to Fund) may be reflected as “Contingent Liability – Others, items for which the bank is contingently liable” under Schedule 12 of the Annual Financial Statements. A bank shall also disclose the amounts transferred to Fund under the Notes to Accounts as per the format given below.

10. Repeal Provisions

With the issue of these instructions, the instructions / guidelines contained in the circulars listed in Annex I, issued by the Reserve Bank stand repealed.

Annex I

List of Circulars repealed

Annex IX

Interest Rates Payable on Interest Bearing Deposit

The interest payable on interest bearing deposits transferred to Depositor Education and Awareness (DEA) Fund shall be calculated by banks as per the interest rates specified in the table below:

The amount of interest payable in this behalf shall be calculated in the manner specified in paragraph 4 (ii) of the Scheme and by rounding off the amount of interest to the nearest rupee.